I really want to start lucid dreaming, but I find it consistently hard to stay focused. (Take heed I am only a child, I don't have ADD or anything but I find it hard to stay focused on the check)

This is my check:

I ask my self "Am I dreaming?"Then I say "If I'm dreaming, I could will myself to hover." then I try hovering for thirty secondsThen I say "If I was dreaming, my palms would look different every time I looked at them." (I look at my palms for thirty seconds)This if followed by "If I look at this piece of text then look away, it will change if I am dreaming."I will also try to push two fingers through my hand several times.Then I ask the basic questions:Where am I? - AnswerWhat am I doing? - AnswerWhere am I going? - Answer

These checks take about a minute or so, am I cramming too much in? How long should a check take? And most importantly HOW CAN I TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!?

I think you might be cramming too much in at once. I thought of the same thing, but my cousin said the only few things necessary were asking yourself, "Am I dreaming?" and pushing your hand through an object. It doesn't have to be your other hand. She said for her that even she knew when she was dreaming and when she wasn't.

"Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives"~William Dement

I don't think you're doing too much, but I would work on on trying to take it seriously and to me the way to do this is to learn to believe that you can never really be absolutely sure you are dreaming. Also believe that it is very difficult to tell the difference between waking reality and dream reality. The believing part is important to help you take it seriously.

I was getting really tired of doing them at one point and remember thinking to myself. "Here we go again, another reality check. I'm getting tired of these and I already know the result." So I looked down at my hand and it was missing a finger! Shocked the heck out me because I was so sure it was just another reality check. One time you will do one and have the same experience so be prepared!

Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world? Morpheus

Thanks for the help guys! Even though I laxed at reality checks I managed to have one spontaneous lucid dream the other night, if it was one! Please help me on my other question as you guys helped me so well on this one! http://www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1522

One of the reality checks that has been working great for me lately and has been an almost automatic thing for me to do when I "notice" things out of the ordinary is looking at my hands. Doing so in the non-physical (dream) causes them to begin melting. LoL

This then triggers a lucid awareness... which I then upgrade to an astral awareness by stopping what I'm doing, focusing upon something in my local environment (rock, tree, fence, my hands, etc) and asking the following questions:

This brings forth my full waking awareness and turns my lucid experience into an astral one. At which point, I can then go about my specific goals, like chatting with a guide or visiting somewhere specific. While I'm only lucidly aware, I don't usually remember enough to try and reach my goals. LoL